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News from PARWCC!

Written by PARWCC Leadership Team on . Posted in Blog, Weekly Newsletter.

 

The Operative Word is Artificial

Written by Don Orlando on . Posted in Blog.

One of the many advantages of being a PARW/CC member is a real understanding of the strengths and limitations of AI. Most of our clients lack those insights.

You can build an effective brand when you prove your products deliver better results than those produced by AI. 

Let me be very clear: We should never criticize AI or imply its users are less than capable.

What we can do, what we should do, is to show how you are extraordinarily well trained to leverage and build upon AI’s strengths.

We must be very sure about what AI’s limitations are. That’s not because we should criticize the tool or imply would be clients are somehow wrong on relying upon it. 

And that can come from looking at AI’s vulnerabilities. Our brands must lead prospective clients to see the value we offer. 

AI résumés represent mediocrity delivered near instantly on a grand scale. Let me explain. When someone uses AI to build their résumé, it relies on the Large Language Model. It can instantly scan hundreds of thousands of résumés. It learns from what it reads. And it guides the user to follow the path that knowledge has shaped.

People forget more than 95% of the résumés AI scans were not successful. As a result, AI learns and transmits mediocrity. Most users never consider that point. So, an AI draft appeals to the misinformed because they don’t know better and the resulting draft is pretty much uniformed job seekers expect.

AI can produce products that don’t sound like the author. That difference can torpedo interviews. After all, writing makes the author’s thought process visible. Hiring officials can detect the difference quickly.

AI can “hallucinate.” The system has been known to manufacture “facts” to support what it writes. Think of it as automated lying. No matter the source, a lie tars someone who cannot be trusted.

AI can resort to flattery. While that may temporarily build an author’s  confidence it won’t take long before that person becomes discouraged. Their reasoning can sound like this:

“AI has been congratulating me and encouraging me. So, I have been following its advice, but I am making no traction at all. I wonder what I am doing wrong?”

No wonder some AI driven job seekers become increasingly distressed.

AI can spray and the job seeker can pray but get no results. Flooding the market with résumés puts the author in the largest possible field of competitors. And it leaves no time for the due diligence that drives the most successful interviews. 

The bottom line: AI relies upon efficiency at the cost of effectiveness.

Now consider what you, as a careers professional, offer to offset the limitations you just read.

You are a trusted confidant. You always give your clients the best possible answers even if they don’t like them at first. And your answers are supported, not by yesterday’s data that fuels AI but by the latest insights you can find as a PARW/CC member. 

You never waste the clients’ time by concentrating upon the obvious or asking extraneous questions as AI often does.

You integrate every aspect of the job search. The résumé, the LI post, the networking guidance, the interview preparation—all these are developed with the entire, tailored campaign in mind.

Reassure prospects that AI can produce pretty good products. In today’s very competitive world, “pretty good” isn’t good enough. We don’t want any job seeker to struggle through a never-ending “pretty good career.”

AI offers efficiency you can’t match. You offer effectiveness your clients can’t do without.

The Future: AI Career Buddies and Career Strategists

Written by Jay Block on . Posted in Blog, CEMP.

Back in the 1980’s, a small group of people anticipated the future, one that would be very different.  They not only adapted to the future they foresaw, but they also created it: PARWCC.

So again, I’m looking into the future and offering my vision.  Yes, I’m retired.  But if I were starting out today… this is how I would be thinking. 

The End of the “Do-It-Yourself” Job Search

Today, job seekers still “search” for jobs. They browse postings, tweak resumes, network like maniacs, prepare for interviews, and submit resumes.  This has been going on since the late 1930’s when job search became ‘an official thing.’   

But in the coming years, that model will feel as outdated as payphones and encyclopedias.  AI is already acting as a career co-pilot, helping job candidates write resumes, optimize keywords, prepare for interviews, and even auto-apply to jobs.  And that number will jump considerably in the years ahead.  

At the same time, employers have moved even faster.  Recent stats suggest that 80%-87% of companies actively employ AI in hiring.  This creates a new reality:  AI is now negotiating with AI for jobs before a human ever enters the conversation.  

Soon, most people will have a personal AI career buddy that:

  • Tracks their skills and achievements in real time.
  • Updates their ‘living resume’ continuously.
  • Identifies opportunities automatically.
  • Applies (or signals interest) on their behalf.
  • Prepares them for interviews dynamically.

The traditional resume? It won’t disappear, but it will become more of a data output, providing validation for information and materials already gathered.  

Resumes will no longer be the starting point.

The Rise of the “Living Career Profile”

One of the biggest structural changes ahead is the shift from static documents to dynamic identity systems.  Dynamic identity systems are adaptive branding frameworks that use generative algorithms and modular elements to create evolving visual identities (brandyhq.com & Noomo Agency).  

In other words, today, a resume is written after experience happens.  In the near future, a workplace/career profile will be updated ‘as experience happens.’  Not by humans.  But by a personal AI career buddy.  

The AI career buddy will continuously build evolving models including skills, performance metrics, personality, work compatibility, values match, learning/adaptive capabilities, etc.  A living career profile. 

This aligns with the rapid shift toward skills-based hiring, where AI evaluates and ‘predicts’  what someone can do – not just where they’ve worked and what they’ve done.  

Resume pros and career coaches will no longer prepare documents.  The AI career buddy will do that.  Employment pros will customize and strategize what the career buddy presents – shaping career data and organizing strategic stories that connect one’s past work experiences, present skills, and future goals to clearly define one’s ‘professional identity.’  

Why a ‘professional identity?’  Because the future will be about matching not searching.  

Semantic Matching:  The Collapse of Keyword Gaming

Resume writing has revolved around beating Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).  But even now, that system is breaking down.  AI screening tools are evolving beyond simple keyword matching into semantic matching – “a technique in AI and natural language processing (NLP) that identifies whether two or more elements, such as words, sentences, or documents, have the same meaning, rather than just matched based on identical keywords.” (Galileo).  

Today, candidates are rejected for missing exact phrasing.  Tomorrow, they will be evaluated on capability models, not wording tricks.  This will eliminate a major area of traditional resume writing – like  keyword optimization and formatting.  

Instead, value and hireability will shift to clarity of impact, evidence of skills and, of course, differentiation in a sea of AI-generated lookalikes. 

Direct Matching and the Resume Collapse

AI has made applying to jobs nearly frictionless.  Candidates can now generate resumes instantly, customize applications at scale, and apply to hundreds of roles in minutes.  The result?  Application volume is exploding.  The easier it becomes to apply, the harder it becomes to stand out.

Over the next decade, companies will respond by tightening AI filters, reducing reliance on resumes and applications, and increasing the use of direct matching and sourcing algorithms.  

The future of job search will not be the process of applying.  It will transition to being selected.  Being matched.

The Next Frontier Is Not Better Resumes.  It Will Be Better Matching Strategies

We will transition from job search to talent discovery.  

Emerging AI platforms already map candidate skills to job requirements, infer real time capabilities, predict success probability, and recommend candidates before roles are even posted.  In this model, jobs find people, not the other way around.

This mirrors what’s happening in other industries like Netflix, Spotify, and eHarmony, for example.  They gather all necessary information and data via algorithms, and then provide recommendations – ‘matching probabilities.’   

This will occur in the hiring space.    

For employment professionals, this is a seismic shift.  Your role will change from helping clients ‘get found’ to helping them become undeniably ‘matchable.’

So here’s my contrarian take:  Stop obsessing over résumés and interviewing (I didn’t say ignore), and start asking better questions such as, “What proof exists that a job seeker can do what they claim that ‘matches’ employers criteria for hire – algorithmically.”  

This is important because in today’s job search process, claims are cheap, keywords are everywhere, and everyone “sounds impressive.”  Semantic matching will be based on one’s ‘professional identity’ – ‘in real time’ via one’s AI personal career buddy.

Why Your Role Becomes More Important (Not Less)

As AI becomes more dominant, human guidance will become more valuable, not less.  This is because AI introduces three major problems:

  1. Uniformity – everyone has access to the same tools. Once again, outputs start to look identical.
  2. Over-automation – candidates rely too heavily on AI, losing any strategic and competitive advantage. 
  3. Decision paralysis – with way too many options and constant, often conflicting  recommendations, people struggle to make decisions.

This creates massive opportunities for resume writers and career coaches to transition into career (workplace) strategists.  The future, I believe, belongs to professionals who can restore intent, emotion, differentiation, and a new hiring strategy in an AI-driven world.  And, most importantly… those who master new strategies for creating ‘personal identities’ that result in the best ‘matching probabilities.’

Career Strategists

Those who primarily write resumes, LinkedIn profiles and prepare clients for interviews, are becoming (or, are already) commoditized.  This means they pretty much all look alike to their targeted audiences – online and off.  Just look ‘objectively’ to all the LinkedIn posts by resume writers and career coaches today, and put yourself in the shoes of jobseekers.  Honestly,  they are indistinguishable from one another.  Awards, certifications, same questions and advice, overly busy posts.  It’s simply jobseeker overload!

As a result, job seekers find it easier, more comfortable and certainly financially beneficial (FREE) to turn to ChatGPT and AI tools available to them.  

So, future success of today’s resume writers and career coaches will be dependent on their ability to adapt to, and transform into skilled career strategists (architects).  Because job seekers won’t need help writing.  They’ll need help thinking.  

  • How do I optimize my AI career buddy and lean on my career strategist?  
  • What direction should I pursue and what skills must I build next?  
  • How will my industry evolve, and how do I position myself to be highly relevant.  
  • How do I stay positive when the spaghetti hits the fan?   

Career strategists will build expertise in skills translation.  As hiring becomes skills-based, strategists will help job seekers translate experience into skills, map skills across industries and professions, and identify gaps and fill them.

Career strategists will understand that their advantage is not avoiding AI or competing with it, but rather orchestrating it better than job seekers can do alone, or with traditional professionals.  They will focus on tactical differentiation and significant  narratives (stories hiring pros ‘really’ want).  Personal identities.

When everyone uses AI, sameness becomes the default.  The role of career strategists (architects) will be to tactically extract authentic value, craft compelling narratives, and build professional identities to optimize matching opportunities.

Final Thought

Job seekers will no longer be judged by what they say on résumés.  They’ll be evaluated by what systems can detect, verify, and match about them – not unlike Amazon that matches an array of items for our buying pleasure, based on our Amazon shopping buddy (algorithms based on what Amazon knows about us).  

It’s underway.  The future of job search will be a radical shift (not pivot) to ‘Employment Matching.’  

 

*  “Personal identity” is primarily the process of ‘identity verification’ – proving a job seeker is who they say they are and can validate (in real time) their value proposition. 

 

You Blew It! Again! What Now?

Written by Doug Phares on . Posted in Blog, Business Development.

You’ve been here before. You’re out to eat at a restaurant, and you’re split between two choices. Maybe your friend or partner orders one of the options you were considering, so you pick the other. But one bite in and you’re completely sure that the steak was vastly superior to the pasta you’re chewing.

You both had the same information, but looking back on it, you don’t like where your choice led you. This happens all the time — everybody makes choices every day, but for a manager, that is literally the job description. Yet time and again, I see managers who don’t like the outcome of a choice and automatically conclude that there was a flaw in their decision making.

I challenge you to rethink this process. First and foremost, leadership is nothing more and nothing less than the capacity to make a well-reasoned decision using limited information. Without that, an organization is rudderless, unfocused, and missing opportunities while it swats blindly at threats.

Being a leader means gathering as much information as you reasonably can, assessing and evaluating it to land on the best choice, then enacting that decision. Being a leader also means making decisions that don’t turn out well. Life is not a math equation with clearly defined variables — you’re always working off imperfect data, which will, perhaps not infrequently, lead to imperfect choices and imperfect results.

To go back to our example at the restaurant, you could have carefully studied the menu and even taken a look around the room to suss out how the options looked on the plate. Even doing all that, you can still end up with a less-than-stellar dish. That doesn’t make it your fault — the chef could have had an off day, there could be a problem with a certain ingredient, or maybe your plate was just left under a heat lamp for too long.

You can collect all the data that you want, but at some point, you have to pull the trigger and make a decision. When you do, it’s important that you’re comfortable finding out later that you could have chosen better. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t look critically at your choices, but it does mean that you’ll be better served by examining your process rather than the outcome.

In these reflections, you may find that you misunderstood information or failed to collect and analyze a crucial data point. If so, then you have learned an important lesson for the future. But if you find that you made the best decision you could with the information available, then there’s nothing for you to change, even if it led to a bad result.

Let me be clear: making the wrong decision is not a problem. How you react and deal with that result is what makes you a leader. True leaders can look back on their decisions and objectively evaluate the process that led to their choice. Bad leaders get caught up in the “what ifs” and struggle to make any decision going forward.

Being wrong is just a byproduct of routinely making decisions and keeping your organization forward. That’s why it’s important to create a culture of reviewing decisions, not outcomes. Challenging your decision process is healthy and a sign of a growing organization. But if you question everything, especially due to a bad result, then you’ll quickly find yourself paralyzed and unable to make necessary choices.

Through the macro lens, the role of leadership is fairly simple. Just do your homework and make the best decision that you can. The outcome may not be what you wanted, but that isn’t always within your control. So be a leader and center your attention on what is firmly within your grasp: the process.

Helping Clients Navigate a Market that Looks Better than It Feels

Written by stephanie on . Posted in Blog, Career Coaching.

If you’ve worked with job seekers recently, you’ve likely heard a version of the same frustration:

“I’ve applied to hundreds of jobs and heard nothing back.”

“The unemployment rate is low, so why can’t I find a job?”

“Everyone says companies are hiring, but it doesn’t feel that way.”

The latest labor market data tells a generally positive story. In May 2026, employers added 172,000 jobs, nearly double what economists expected. The unemployment rate remains relatively low at 4.3%, and the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) reported 7.6 million open positions, the highest level seen in nearly two years.

By many traditional measures, the labor market appears healthy.

Yet many job seekers are experiencing something entirely different.

This disconnect between the economic data and the lived experience of job seekers is creating confusion, frustration, and self-doubt. As career coaches and résumé writers, understanding this gap is critical—not only for helping clients navigate the market, but also for helping them maintain confidence throughout the process.

The Data Says the Market Is Improving

Recent labor market reports show continued job growth and an increase in job openings. Private employers added another 122,000 jobs in May, with eight of ten major industry sectors reporting gains. Healthcare, professional services, construction, hospitality, and government continue to show hiring activity.

Layoffs also remain relatively low compared to historical averages. Unlike previous economic downturns, most organizations are not aggressively reducing headcount.

At first glance, these numbers suggest a strong and stable employment environment.

For many professionals, however, the reality feels far more challenging.

Why Job Seekers Feel Stuck

The answer lies in what the headline numbers don’t reveal.

While companies are hiring, many are doing so more cautiously than in previous years. Organizations have become increasingly selective, often seeking candidates who can demonstrate immediate impact rather than potential.

Hiring processes are also taking longer. Roles may remain open for months while employers evaluate candidates, adjust budgets, or reconsider organizational priorities. What once took four weeks can now take three or four months.

The labor market has become what economists are calling a “low-hire, low-fire” environment. Employers are holding onto talent, but they are not replacing positions as quickly as they did during the post-pandemic hiring surge.

As a result, job seekers are spending more time in the market. The median duration of unemployment has risen to 11.6 weeks, the highest level since 2021. Even more concerning, more than 27% of unemployed workers have been searching for work for 27 weeks or longer.

Candidates are not necessarily being rejected more frequently; they are simply spending more time in the process.

For job seekers, that distinction often doesn’t matter. The emotional experience is the same: uncertainty, discouragement, and the feeling that something must be wrong with them.

The Rise of Selective Hiring

One of the most significant trends career professionals should be watching is the shift toward selective hiring.

Many organizations learned difficult lessons during the rapid hiring cycles of 2021 and 2022. Today, employers are scrutinizing hiring decisions more carefully, often requiring additional interviews, broader stakeholder input, and stronger evidence of performance.

This means job seekers can no longer rely solely on meeting the minimum qualifications.

Candidates who clearly communicate measurable results, leadership impact, and business value continue to separate themselves from the competition.

For résumé writers, this reinforces the importance of moving beyond task-focused content and emphasizing outcomes, achievements, and strategic contributions.

For coaches, it creates an opportunity to help clients articulate their value with greater clarity and confidence.

The Hidden Job Market Is Still Alive

Another reality that many job seekers underestimate is the continued importance of networking.

Despite the growth of online applications and AI-powered recruiting tools, many positions—particularly at the management, director, and executive levels—are still filled through relationships, referrals, and professional networks.

The strongest candidates are often not those who submit the most applications. They are the individuals who build visibility, engage their network, and create opportunities through conversations.

This is where career professionals continue to provide tremendous value.

Helping clients shift from an application-focused strategy to a relationship-focused strategy can dramatically improve outcomes, particularly for experienced professionals.

Confidence Is Becoming a Competitive Advantage

Perhaps the most overlooked challenge in today’s labor market is not a résumé problem or a networking problem. It’s a confidence problem.

Longer job searches naturally create self-doubt. Candidates begin questioning their experience, their qualifications, and even their career direction.

When every application feels like a dead end, it becomes difficult to maintain momentum.

As career professionals, we are often doing far more than optimizing résumés or preparing clients for interviews. We are helping people maintain perspective during one of the most emotionally challenging periods of their professional lives.

The ability to reframe setbacks, reinforce strengths, and keep clients moving forward may be one of the most valuable services we provide.

What This Means for Career Professionals

The labor market is not as weak as many job seekers believe, but it is also not as simple as the headline numbers suggest.

Our role is to help clients understand both realities simultaneously.

Yes, opportunities exist. There are 7.6 million job openings in the United States.

Yes, employers are hiring. The economy added 172,000 jobs in May alone.

But hiring is slower. Competition remains strong. Employers are more selective. And successful job searches require more strategy than ever before.

The good news is that these conditions create meaningful opportunities for career coaches, résumé writers, and career development professionals to make a lasting impact.

The clients who succeed in this market are rarely the ones who apply the most. They are the ones who understand their value, communicate it effectively, build strategic relationships, and stay persistent when the process takes longer than expected.

Helping clients develop those skills may be the most important work we do in 2026.

Setting the Standard: Meet the Inaugural PARWCC Elite Circle Coaching Award Winners

Written by Margaret Phares on . Posted in Blog.

This year marks the inaugural recognition of  exceptional professionals who embody the highest standards of career coaching excellence through the PARWCC Career Coach of the Year Awards. These distinguished honors celebrate coaches who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to client success, innovation in career development, and meaningful contributions to the career services profession. Through their expertise, dedication, and leadership, these individuals have made a lasting impact on the lives and careers of those they serve.  Please join me in welcoming the inaugural PARWCC Elite Circle Career Coaching Award Winners:

Elite Circle Awards

 

The Role of Professional Distance in Resume Writing

Written by John Suarez on . Posted in Blog, Résumé Writing.

A strong legal argument and a strong résumé both rely heavily on the ability to project believable claims that don’t sound exaggerated, defensive, evasive, inflated, or emotionally loaded. Neither profession merely “records facts”; rather, the interpretation of those facts makes all the difference.

Lawyers and résumé writers understand that people rarely describe themselves objectively under pressure. Witnesses ramble. Executives inflate. Laid-off employees overexplain. Founders cling to identity. Most professionals narrate emotionally. The résumé writer’s job is to recognize when that emotional lens is distorting the story.

The advanced work in both professions is judgment, not writing.

Sure, we edit words. But a résumé writer and an attorney both transform emotionally entangled experience into clear, credible, and strategically useful communication. The good ones know how and when to apply the calibrated perspective of professional distance.

Emotional overattachment rarely announces itself directly. More often, it appears in subtle patterns of language. Here are five common signals:

 

Defensive Tone

    • Example 1: Successfully maintained departmental operations despite chronic understaffing, budget constraints, unrealistic expectations, and constant organizational restructuring.
  • Diagnosis: The résumé starts sounding like testimony instead of positioning, like the candidate is still emotionally arguing with the former employer.
  • Better: Maintained departmental operations during periods of restructuring and staffing shortages.

 

Identity Clinging

    • Example 2: Dedicated educator with a lifelong passion for shaping young minds and making a meaningful difference in every student’s life.
    • Diagnosis: Identity language overwhelms positioning.
  • Better: Educator experienced in curriculum development, student engagement, and classroom leadership.

 

Over-explaining

    • Example 3: Position eliminated after company-wide restructuring unrelated to performance following leadership changes and regional downsizing initiatives.
  • Diagnosis: Excess explanation reveals anxiety.
  • Better: Position eliminated during organizational restructuring.

 

Inflated Self-Protection

  • Example 4: Visionary transformational leader recognized for unparalleled dedication, exceptional interpersonal excellence, and unwavering commitment to organizational success.
  • Diagnosis: Inflated language masks insecurity.
  • Better: Operations leader experienced in organizational transformation, team development, and process improvement.

 

Emotional Narration

  • Example 5: Worked tirelessly to support vulnerable populations during one of the most difficult periods in modern healthcare history.
  • Diagnosis: Emotional narration can overpower or reduce clarity.
  • Better: Supported high-volume patient populations during peak pandemic operations.

 

The goal is not emotional detachment from the client. It is professional distance from the client’s interpretation of events. The résumé writer’s role is to transform lived experience into credible positioning. That requires empathy, but also enough distance to see the story clearly.

NEXT MONTH: What happens if your résumé writing is too emotionally detached?

AI-Proof Career Management

Written by Diane Hudson on . Posted in Blog, Career Coaching.

In career management, AI is used by job seekers for resume and social media profile development and preparation for AI interviews, and by companies for reviewing resumes and conducting interviews.

 

Interviews

I recently coached a client through interview preparation and simulations. When she joined the interview, AI conducted it. She had the option to choose an avatar or a human-looking interviewer. She was caught off guard; she thought the interview would be conducted by a human.

During the interview, she asked a question because she did not understand the AI interviewer’s question, or she missed part of it, and the AI was not able to respond, so it started over again. So, my client was a bit rattled. If she had known the interview would be conducted with AI, she would have prepared mentally and appropriately.

 So, I am now coaching my clients to be prepared for both human-led and AI-led interviews. I am also coaching my clients to ask their HR point of contact, which might be a bot, if AI or a human will conduct the interview.  Either way, my clients need to be prepared.

AI interviewers can monitor and detect cues such as whether a client is lying; body language, eye contact, sighs, and more. In-between chatter, “ums”, and shifts/sounds will not work well in AI interviews. I coach my clients to prepare their stories in the CPR (Context, Process, Results) format and to share enough information to ensure the AI absorbs the stories and results. Short yes-and-no responses to AI interview questions, or minimal responses, will not score well.

 Longer, clear (CPR), orderly responses that highlight strong results and include real outcomes and metrics create better transcripts. Results should be qualified or quantified, accomplishment stories should be in story format (CPR/Beginning, Middle, End), and the career journey should be clear, understandable, and in order.  AI interviewers are not looking for big, fancy language; rather, they are listening for keywords and messages related to the position and the candidate’s knowledge of the company.  AI interviews require that applicants study and research the company and the position.

 The AI will create a transcript for the hiring officials that includes the applicant’s responses to the posed questions and a summary of hard and soft skills, as well as experience, that match the position description.

 AI interviews are considered better structured and more consistent than human interviews, since humans can forget to ask questions or could be distracted by the day or events in their personal or work lives.

However, at the end of all the AI interviews, the human making the final hiring decision wants to meet the applicant in person and form an opinion on likeability and cultural fit based on the team’s and the company’s needs.

 Here is a short list of AI interview programs:

  • HireVue: It uses AI avatars for video interviews to assess candidates’ responses and body language
  • Interviewing.io: Simulates technical interviews to help applicants practice in a realistic environment
  • Pymetrics: Uses AI-driven avatars to create an interactive assessment to evaluate applicants’ soft skills
  • VidRecruiter: Can detect things like deep fakes in audio and video pre-recorded interview responses and identify candidates who record answers in advance and stream them to bypass screening

 

Resumes & LinkedIn Profiles

AI can be used as a tool to develop a resume, social media profiles, and other written career management documents. However, even when the best possible prompts are used and the resume is created with AI, it must still be proofread and edited by a human to ensure the writing and stories sound like the applicant and do not sound AI-generated. I have spoken with many recruiters and hiring managers who informed me that AI-written resumes are all very similar and that they can detect them.

 I recommend to my clients to use AI as a tool, not a dependency, for resume writing.

 Also, one of my clients built his resume with his contact information in the header and used QR codes for his LinkedIn profile and online portfolio.

Most recruiters that I speak with prefer a URL to a scan code. Scan codes may appear as a graphic in an ATS or may simply be too much of an extra step for a recruiter to use to review an applicant’s online portfolio or LI profile.  A URL to an online portfolio and/or LI profile is much more expedient and ensures that a recruiter has access to the online location. Also, some recruiters/HR professionals consider a scan code as a potential cyber/malware security risk.

 For specific tech jobs, a QR code may be appropriate and considered modern; it is definitely appropriate at job fairs. The client needs to research the company.

 

Applicant Tracking Systems

Most ATS are software tools that help automate the hiring process (e.g., Oracle, SAP, Workday, Jobvite, Greenhouse). Some include AI to parse resumes. Most do not scan well with graphics, images, tables, large files, heavy design elements, columns, atypical fonts, and other formatting. Content in headers and footers is rarely included in a scan. Most ATS parse resumes into basic categories, e.g., summary/profile, experience, education, awards, job titles, months and years of experience, locations, and the like.

 Applicants with extensive design formatting should ensure their resumes are read as a “paper” document rather than being placed into an ATS. Companies and job boards that require applicants to fill in their online/custom application form ensure the candidate’s information is properly read and parsed. Also, in some online applications, there are spaces to add URLs for social media and online portfolios.

 

The Human Touch

Despite the use of AI, the human touch is still necessary for effective career coaching. As a career coach, I prepare my clients to develop their accomplishment stories with value-laden metrics and results for employers, and to craft a robust career journey to regale in AI- or human-managed interviews, networking, and communications on social media or in person. 

 Job seekers now need to consider jobs, disciplines, and industries that are more AI-proofed, including jobs in the healthcare industry (nurses, long-term caretakers, x-ray technicians, doctors), trades (plumbers, electricians, welders, and construction workers), AI-focused positions, cyber security, coaching, teaching, insurance, some sales, and others.

 For those seeking entrepreneurial ventures, money-making businesses that provide good income include laundromats, lawn care, snow removal, storage units, and vending machines.

 My clients need to consider what they value, their purpose, and goals that better align with jobs that will not be immediately impacted by AI. AI is a tool to support businesses, including career coaching businesses; however, a human can guide a client to make career decisions, learn about industries and available jobs, and prepare their career success journey. Career coaches listen and empathize with clients; they understand the grief cycle in employment caused by lay-offs, firings, salary decreases, micromanagers, long commutes, changes to the workplace and management, demotions, and more.

 We coach our clients to become AI-proofed and job-search-proofed.

When Perfect Interview Answers Fail

Written by Lili Foggle on . Posted in Blog, CIC.

David thought he was doing everything right in preparing for job interviews. He had carefully crafted his “Tell Me About Yourself” answer to align with the leadership roles he was targeting. He had practiced countless CAR stories to demonstrate the value he would bring. He had even planned where to inject humor to build rapport. And in many ways, it was working. He was consistently making it to final rounds. He just couldn’t land the offer.

After almost a year of rejections, his was flummoxed.  His desperate question for me was “How I can improve my answers?”  We started with a short diagnostic mock interview, to see where I could spot opportunities for improvement. Within the first few minutes, I clocked a giant red flag. 

David wasn’t in a conversation with me. He was performing for me.

He told every story the exact same way, word for word, beat for beat. The energy was high, almost theatrical. He used big, choreographed gestures, like pretending to put on an “educator cap” when he said he shifted into teaching mode. He built in dramatic pauses and emphasized certain lines like he was delivering a keynote. He was so polished that, during one virtual interview,  an interviewer actually stopped him and asked if he was human or AI. His solution was to go back into his script and insert a few moments where he would intentionally stumble over his words so he would sound less perfect.

His stories were entertaining, but they were far too long and packed with unnecessary detail. In one example, he compared himself to a smokejumper, then paused to explain what a smokejumper was before continuing the story. He would even announce his structure out loud, saying, “I’m going to answer this in the CAR format. C for challenge, A for action, R for results,” and then proceed through it exactly as practiced. The delivery was so animated and so over-explained that it started to feel less like a professional conversation and more like he was presenting to someone he assumed needed everything spelled out.

What struck me immediately was not just that it was rehearsed. It was that it was unresponsive. He would hear a question and immediately launch into a preloaded answer without adjusting to the nuance of what was actually being asked. In several cases, his answers technically related to the question, but they missed the opportunity that the question was creating in that moment.

The clearest example was when I asked him to tell me about a mistake or failure. David talked constantly about having a growth mindset. It was one of his core messages, and as an older candidate, it was an important one. But instead of sharing a real mistake he had made and how he learned from the experience, he delivered a polished story about someone else’s error and how he stepped in to fix it. He said the words “growth mindset” repeatedly, but when he had the chance to demonstrate taking accountability, learning from mistakes, and creating change, he missed the moment entirely.

Of course, there were other opportunities for improvement, too. His stories needed tightening. He could have used more quantifiable metrics for results. Those things always matter. But by the time a candidate reaches final interviews, every candidate has proven their value. Everyone has shown that they can do the job.  Final rounds are often about trust and judgment.  Can we trust your judgment? Can we trust how you will show up on a team? If a candidate cannot show up in the interview in a way that feels authentic and responsive, tighter stories and metrics will not carry them to the offer.

We often label this piece as “likability,” but that word can make it sound vague or personality-driven. In practice, it is much more concrete. It’s whether a candidate responds to the question in front of them or recites something they prepared in advance. Did they adjust appropriately to the nuance of the question or an interviewer’s reaction  – or push through to the end of their script? When a candidate delivers a perfectly structured answer that does not quite fit the question, it breaks connection in the conversation.

Failing to promote what Jay Block calls “the likability factor” is not just a candidate problem. It is also often a coaching blind spot. We spend a significant amount of time helping clients build strong value propositions, and rightly so. Without offering clear value, they will not advance. But if we focus only on the stories and the metrics, we are only preparing them to get through the early rounds and leaving them underprepared for the final round that determines the offer.

A coach’s diagnostic judgment needs to assess much more than the strength of the value signals in an interview response. If coaches are only listening for value, a breakdown in connection is easy to miss. We need to notice how the answer is delivered, how the candidate is reading the room, and whether they are adjusting in real time.  This kind of diagnostic judgment is not learned intellectually.  Diagnostic judgement is developed by experience: observing real interactions and learning to recognize the red flags that erode interviewer trust.

That is exactly why in every session of the live Certified interview Coach program, we work with real mock interview clips of actual candidates. We look closely at the moments where something feels off, even when the answer sounds strong on the surface. We ask, “What other signals could that response be sending?” and “Why didn’t that land well?”.  Coaches start to see and recognize the behaviors and patterns that create unintended red flags and decrease likability. Diagnostic judgment grows through experience. 

David’s over-reliance on scripts for interview preparation is not unusual. Many candidates trust their ability to write more than their ability to communicate naturally under pressure. Writing feels controlled and safe. Our job is to help clients move from safe to authentic. From reciting what they prepared to responding effectively to that moment in the room.

That shift was a challenge for David. It required him to let go of the performance he had rehearsed and trust himself to communicate without a script. He embraced the challenge with gusto. We worked on his strategic messaging skills. He practiced listening to the question, thinking about the context for that question (why is that interviewer asking that particular question? What are they assessing?) choosing his main message and delivering that message spontaneously within a structured framework. The difference was immediately apparent. He toned down the exaggerated energy and spoke more naturally.  His answers became shorter and more responsive to the specific subtleties of each question. Most importantly, I could see him, not the character he had been performing.

One of the core principles in the CIC program is that interviewing is a speaking skill, not a writing skill. If coaches focus only on the content of a response, they may completely miss the totality of the candidate’s impact on an interviewer.  And focusing exclusively on content also completely misses the fix. Our client’s improvement will come through teaching holistic communication skills – not giving them better scripts. 

After coaching, David sent me a lovely note, thanking me for the “skills and insights” he learned in coaching with me, and to let me know that he was getting great feedback on his recent interviews.  He began a new job a few weeks later.

Learning to strategically and authentically show up in a conversation – instead of performatively recite – is a critical edge candidates need to win that competitive final round. When we move beyond improving answers and start teaching communication skills, our clients feel the difference and see better results.  

The next Certified Interview Coach live cohort starts July 9th.  Register now to supercharge your diagnostic judgment: https://parwcc.com/certified-interview-coach-cic-live/

 

News from PARWCC!

Written by PARWCC Leadership Team on . Posted in Blog, Weekly Newsletter.

 

News from PARWCC!

Written by PARWCC Leadership Team on . Posted in Blog, Weekly Newsletter.

 

 

News from PARWCC!

Written by PARWCC Leadership Team on . Posted in Blog, Weekly Newsletter.